My Grandmother and Grandpa Honychurch, on my mother's side. Grandma Honychurch could play any song ever written by ear as long as it was written before 1955. Grandpa Honychurch played the violin but went deaf at the end so it was a bit screetchy. He would sit there and play the violin with big alligator tears rolling down his cheeks.
Pete Honychurch is a singer songwriter/guitarist as well as a recording engineer and producer from Vancouver Island, Canada.
His highly acclaimed solo album "Real As Anything" features 12 of Pete’s original songs and has an amazing cast of Canadian musical talent accompanying him including Patricia Conroy, members of Tango Paradiso, Skywalk, Spirit of the West, the Bryan Adams Band, among many others.
Background:
Pete started playing professionaly at the age of 14 in a folk duo and then in many bluegrass bands through his teens, including a stint in Nashville for 2 years at age 17 playing and touring with some of the best musicians in that genre, playing mandolin, guitar and dobro.
Some of the musicians he played in bands with during this time went on to become Riders in the Sky, and the Nashville Bluegrass Band. While in Nashville he was invited by Bill Monroe’s guitar player Bob Jones to move to California and join his new band the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys. Pete then played in California and Oregon with the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys and other bands.
After returning to Canada he worked as a backing musician with many different original artists including Doug Lang, Mae Moore, Sue Medley, and Terry Lynn Ryan, before he formed his own original psychedelic rock band "The Zealots".
The Zealots featured Pete’s original tunes in a 3 piece power rock trio format and were a very popular underground rock band on the west coast for a number of years.
The Zealots had evil twin brothers named "Tex Tiles and the True Moral Fibres" who would open up for the Zealots but instead play what they call "Psychedelic White Trash Hillbilly Rock". They still occasionaly perform to this day when they can be lured out of their fortified compound.
During his time with the Zealots, Pete became fascinated by the recording medium and built a recording studio "Fluid Sound Studios" in a heritage bank building. The marble hallways had some excellent room tones for drums and the like, and Fluid Sound Studios ran for 14 years and through many rolls of 2" tape in that location in downtown Vancouver. Upon moving out of the building the client list was over 300 different projects including albums, films and TV shows, covering every type of music you could shake a stick at.
Throughout this time Pete has been a songwriter singer / guitar player and has released several highly acclaimed albums of his originals, either under his name, the Zealots, or Tex Tiles.
PRESS ETC.
Vancouver Sun, Kerry Gold
Pete Honychurch, Former leader of Vancouver bands the Zealots and Tex Tiles and the True Moral Fibres, is a gifted, driven musician who crafts acoustic guitar based numbers that are simply charming.
Fleshed out with accordion and lots of background vocals courtesy of local singers like Saffron Henderson, Megan Metcalf and Patricia Conroy, “Real As Anything” is a laid-back folksy trip that meanders through soulful ballads and hangs out on the fringes of blues territory.
A veteran musician, Honychurch weaves intricate acoustic guitar accompaniments throughout. His voice alternates between a smoothed-out yodel and an easy soulfulness on sparse blues-rock numbers that either slow or speed-up between trippy guitar and accordion bridges.
Highlights include the sunny rhythms of Dreams, the lush Celtic layers of Man In The Moon, and straight-ahead country tune Wish. Four stars!
The Georgia Straight, Alexander Varty
Pete Honychurch-whom longtime Vancouverites might also know as a studio operator, producer, and session musician, brings a truly impressive amount of heart to his long-anticipated solo album Real As Anything.
There’s not a drop of reserve here: everything is presented with the kind of frank honesty that is and increasingly rare commodity in these cautious, ironic times. His instrumental brilliance is every bit a match for his sincerity, whether playing acoustic, electric, or steel guitar, mandolin, zither, or Dobro, Honychurch consistently comes up with textures that are airy, intriguing, and appropriate, and on Real As Anything he receives equally imaginative support from a host of this city’s finest accompanists. At it’s best “Dreams”, “Man In The Moon”, and the title track "Real As Anything" feels like a joyous, expansive gift.
Vancouver Daily Province, Tom Harrison
He’s using his mother’s maiden name of Honychurch now but whether as Pete Mitchell or Tex Tiles (and the True Moral Fibres), a lot of people have been waiting for this guitarist/singer/songwriter/studio owner to produce a focused example of his many talents. Real As Anything is that aptly titled album.
Honychurch’s inventive arrangements and often dazzling musicianship gives the album it’s color and spacious backdrop while his vocals, although sometimes a little too reserved and discrete, are evocative of a Bruce Cockburn’s cosmic folk-rock.
The personal and artistic conviction that have been invested in Real As Anything is well spent.
The North Shore Voice, Bob D’Eith
Former front man of Vancouver’s the Zealots, Pete Honychurch’s debut is a further testament to the quality of the musicians living on these shores.
Honychurch’s strong suit is the strength of his musicianship. Proficient on the acoustic, electric and steel guitar, he has a strong ear for what sounds right, likely due to his production and engineering work with some of Vancouver’s finest.
The acoustic-based CD is mainly a folk-pop album but also dabbles with many World Beat textures and into country and blues territory. Calling in favors from his work as a producer, he is joined by Muchmusic VJ Sook Yin Lee, Megan Metcalf, the rhythm sections from Spirit of the West and the Colin James Band, and Patricia Conroy among others.
Songs such as the title track, “Dreams”, “Man In The Moon”, and “Save Me From Myself” display a simple charm and sparseness, yet peel back the layers and a complex structure opens before your eyes. Well crafted!
96.1 FM Vancouver, Cal Koat, Music Director
Real As Anything has got a hold of me. It’s one of those albums I just can’t get out of my CD player. We have been playing the title track and “American Dream” in heavy rotation and it has been very well received. This is lush, expansive, captivating music at it’s finest.
Syndicated Radio Host and Former Muchmusic VJ, Terry David Mulligan
Listening to Real As Anything is like receiving a beautiful gift, and it truly is a gift: words and songs that flow effortlessly, melodies that linger on long after they’re gone. Don’t take my word for it, listen for yourself, and when you feel as I do about it, start spreading the good word about Pete Honychurch.
Thanks for the add, great songs. I've never heard this style of music before, a blend of celtic and americana, it works really well though. "American Dream" is my favourite. All the best,
New Odds - Always Breaking Heart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voVqiQfABHE Available on the New Odds CD "Cheerleader." Coming May 20, 2008. Pre-order it at http://www.maplemusic.com/product.asp?dept%5Fid=5541&pf%5Fid=5540%2D01&lang=EN.
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